All language subtitles for Paris.Is.Burning.1990.720p.WEB-DL.H264-fiend

She's ready to...

Right?

I'm... I remember
my dad used to say,

"you have three strikes
against you in this world.

"Every black man has two...

"that they're just black,
and they're a male.

You're gonna have
a hard time."

And he said,
"if you're gonna do this,

than you ever imagined."

May have to open the door.

Y'all have to open
that door, too.

Get off the floor.

Get off the floor!

Learn it,

and learn it well.

All right, miss Heather!

Ohhh!

Girl, give me those
mother heel!

Do you want me to say
who I am and all of that?

"I'm Pepper Labeija,
and I'm..."

I am Pepper Labeija,

the legendary mother
of the house of Labeija.

Not the founder...
crystal was the founder.

I... I just rule it now...

With a soft glove.

And it's important
to me to be the mother,

'cause there's so many little
kids that I have to look out for.

Although they
don't listen to me,

and they buck my authority,

I still think
I rule it pretty well.

They like me.

I'm one of
the more popular ones,

and I've been around
for two decades...

reigning, that is.

You know, I've got more
grand prizes than all the rest.

Gay people... men...

and decide to have a
competition amongst themselves.

Balls.

I went to a ball.
I got a trophy.

And now everybody
wants to know me.

This movie is about
the ball circuit

and the gay people
that's involved in it

and how each person's life
brought them to this circuit.

It's like crossing into the
looking glass in wonderland.

You go in there, and you feel...
you feel 100% right...

as... of being gay.

And that's not what
it's like in the world.

That's not what it's like
in the world.

That's not what it's like
in the world.

You know, it should be
like that in the world.

This society, going to
a football game, basketball...

that's their entertainment.

You know, a ball is ours.
We prepare for a ball.

We may spend more time
preparing for a ball

than anybody would spend
preparing for anything else.

You know,
a ball is like our world.

The balls, to us,

is as close to reality
as we're gonna get

to all of that fame and fortune

and stardom and spotlights.

I'd always see the way
that rich people lived.

And I'd feel it more,
you know...

it would slap me in the face.

I'd say,
"I'd have to have that."

Because I never felt
comfortable being poor.

Or even middle class
doesn't suit me.

Seeing the riches,

seeing the way people
on "dynasty" lived...

And I would think,

"these people have 42 rooms
in their house.

Oh, my God.
What kind of a house is that?"

And we've got three.

So why is it that
they can have it and I didn't?

I always felt cheated
out of things like that.

You have space to do
all that you intend to.

Now, the categories are...

butch queen, 1 through 17.

And for the girls,
18 through 30.

As far as
all of y'all not walking,

please realize that we all...
at one time or another...

have lusted to walk
a ballroom floor.

So give the patrons
and the contestants, you know,

a round of applause for nerve.

'Cause with y'all
vicious mother,

it do take nerve.

Believe me.

We're not going to be shady,
just fierce.

Those balls are more or less
like our fantasy

of being a superstar.

You know, like the oscars
or whatever.

Or being on a runway
as a model.

You know, a lot of those kids
that are in the balls,

they don't have two of nothing.

Some of them don't even eat.

They come to balls starving.

And they sleep
in the under-21,

or they sleep on the pier
or wherever.

They don't have
a home to go to.

But they'll go out,
and they'll steal something

and get dressed up and come
to a ball for that one night

and live the fantasy.

A ball is the very word...

whatever you want to be,
you be.

So at a ball, you have a chance
to display your arrogance,

your seductiveness,
your beauty, your wit,

You can become anything
and do anything

right here, right now,
and it won't be questioned.

I came. I saw. I conquered.

Give her what she want.

She'll bring it to you
every ball.

Why y'all gagging so?

I guess I like
the excitement.

You know, it's them cheering
and screaming if you were good.

And that's what got me,
'cause I like the competition.

Makes me stronger.

It makes me think more.

Makes me want to come back
and get them.

It's not just the winning.

It's... it's the giving, too.

'Cause I feel that I give
a lot of enjoyment

to a lot of people
that go to balls.

And they enjoy to see it,
and I enjoy to walk for them.

So that's my... Philosophy,
as I should say.

To be legendary is like...

their goal is to be legendary.

You know, let you know,
"I'm legendary, you're not."

That's... you know,
it feels good to them.

An Oscar.
A Oscar, right.

It's the same thing.
You know?

Become a legend...
you have an Oscar.

It's the same thing.

I don't really
consider myself a real legend.

I... I've been at the balls
with the legendary children,

and I've stamped myself
with the legendary children.

But I'm really...

I'm one of top,
upcoming children... legendary.

You have legendary children

and upcoming legendary children.
Right.

We're the upcoming ones.

We've been out longer

than the ones
that are here now.

And we done had our... we have
our status in the ballroom.

How long did it take you
to do the tank top?

An hour?
Yes.

You don't do that.

It usually doesn't take you
an hour to do a shirt,

especially a tank top?

Mnh-mnh.
That's not your speed.

Kim pendavis!

Statement... future legend.

Kim and me have...
we've been together...

and it's more or less me,

I'm the one
that's Kim's protége,

because I go with Kim
to the balls,

help him out, help him iron.

'Cause if I don't go
to a ball with him and iron,

I mean, he'll be here wrinkled.

Or he'd be there ironing.

But, you know,

it helps out when somebody else
is there in your corner,

at your side,
to say, "yeah, you can do it."

"You're gonna be fine.

Just go out there and do
what you usually do."

Just simple, you know,
joy and satisfaction.

you know,
I don't really ask much.

And then, from time to time,
later on I can wear the outfit.

Yeah!

Work!

Liz Taylor is famous...

So is Pepper Labeija.

In a sense, so am I.

But a very much
different quantity.

No magazine's gonna run up to
cover me if I go to a premier.

But it's still a fame.

It's a small fame.

But you absorb,
and you take it.

And you like it.

You like the adulation,
the applause...

The people cheering you on...

The winning.

It's like, uh, a physical high.

It's... you know,
it's a good high.

It's an addictive high,
like all highs...

in the long run...
turn out to be.

But it's a high
that won't hurt you.

If everybody went to balls
and did less drugs,

it'd be a fun world,
wouldn't it?

I'm dressing, of course,
to go do a show.

Because I've always
done this professionally.

And I was a dancer.

And I'm trying to remember
when the first time I went to

a ball.

That was the early-type ball,
when everybody just walked,

and they gave away,
like, four or five prizes

in a very limited category.

And the children now...
most of them...

75% of the children
you see at the ball

wouldn't know what a ball was
if it knocked them in the head.

When I first started
going to balls,

it was all about drag queens,

and they were interested
in looking like

Las Vegas show girls...

backpieces, tailpieces,
feathers, beads, and all that.

But as the '70s rolled around,
the thing started changing.

It started coming down

to just wanting to look like
a gorgeous movie star,

like Marilyn Monroe,
Elizabeth Taylor.

And now they've went from that
to trying to look like models

like Iman and Christie Brinkley

and maud Adams
and all those children.

Everyone couldn't be
a Las Vegas show girl.

Everyone couldn't put on
a stack of feathers

and a big headpiece.

So they made the categories
where everybody...

that's what really made
the balls change.

So there was more involvement.

Everyone that goes to one of
these affairs now

damn near participates.

Eventually, over the course
of a year's balls,

they've all walked the runway

in some category or another.

Either you've got a nice body

or you are very fashionable

or you're very pretty

or you're very real-looking.

But there's always something
there for everyone.

And it's like...
it's like in nature...

I'm such a nature fan...

the young ones are always
bucking to move the...

the old bulls out of the way.

go through
all these mad categories

that I never can
stay awake for.

Upcoming pretty girl... 1986.

Take it to the floor.

They're showing off
for the press.

Audience, please back up
and give them air!

Next category... high fashion
winter sportswear,

the poconos
versus the catskills.

is there anyone walking?

Some children were asking me

what I meant
by "miss cheesecake."

That means you must
not only have a body,

but you must be sexy.

Going to school.

School.

Elementary.

College.

Not here.

School.

Looking like a girl
going to school.

Do she look like a girl
going to school?

Town and country.

Exclusively done.

Dupree! Dupree! Dupree!

...get into their suits.

I said, the well-dressed men
of the '80s,

get into the suits
and get into the pumps.

In real life, you can't
get a job as an executive

unless you have
the educational background

and the opportunity.

Now, the fact that
you are not an executive

is merely because of
the social standing of life.

That is just pure thing.

Black people have a hard time
getting anywhere.

And those that do
are usually straight.

In a ballroom, you can be
anything you want.

but you're looking like
an executive.

And therefore you're showing
the straight world that

"I can be an executive.

"If I had the opportunity,
I could be one,

because I can look like one."

And that is like a fulfillment.

Your peers,
your friends are telling you,

Is this the businessman
of the '80s or what?

High-fashion Parisian.
Model's yvette.

Chanté, chante.

Chanté, chante, chanté,
chanté, chante.

Model!

Thin! Streamlined!

Trim!

Model!

The category is...

You know what I mean!

You know what Paris means.

Exactly!
Butch queen!

Butch queen.

Butch queen!

Butch queen.
Butch!

First time in drag at a ball...
that's what I wanted for me.

The military scene
is a basic scene.

It doesn't call for

a bunch of
flamboyant Turkey boas

and bugle beads, rhinestone.

It's a basic category.

The more natural you are,

the more credit
your outfit is given.

Come on, now,
it is a known fact

that a woman do carry
an evening bag at dinnertime.

There's no getting around that.

between "all my children"
and "jeopardy!"...

"Another world," "Dallas,"
and the whole bit.

A evening bag is a must.

You have to carry something.
No lady is sure at night.

With the current children...
the children that are young...

they've gone
to television, you know?

I've been to several balls,

and they've actually
had categories...

"dynasty"...

you know, want you to look
like Alexis or Krystle.

And I guess that's just, um,
a statement of the times.

When I grew up, you wanted to
look like Marlene Dietrich,

Betty grable.

Fortunately, I didn't know

that I really wanted to look
like Lena horne.

When I grew up, of course,
you know...

Black stars were stigmatized.

Nobody wanted to look
like Lena horne.

Everybody wanted to look
like Marilyn Monroe.

When you're a man
and a woman,

you can do anything.

You can... you can almost
have sex on the streets

if you want to.

The most somebody will say is,
"hey, get a hump for me."

But when you're gay,
you monitor everything you do.

You monitor how you look,
how you dress,

how you talk, how you act.

"Did they see me?
What did they think of me?"

To be able to blend.

That's what realness is.

If you can pass
the untrained eye...

or even the trained eye...

and not give away
the fact that you're gay,

that's when it's realness.

Fangie.

Looking like the boy
that probably robbed you

a few minutes before
you came to Paris' ball.

The idea of realness
is to look as much as possible

like your straight counterpart.

Shake the dice
and steal the rice!

Right here.
Come on, baby.

Yes, daddy.

I got my food stamps
and card waiting.

All right.

Dust, coke, base,
soap, rolaids... he got it.

The realer you look,

it means you look like
a real woman.

Or you look like a real man...

A straight man.

Sweetheart,
with the cigarette,

you're giving me
a banji girl effect.

This is banji.

You know, the girls
that be on the corner

talking about your man.

One that can hang out
with the roughest...

It's not a takeoff
or a satire.

No, it's actually being
able to be this.

Brenda Xtravaganza.

Looking like a banji girl.

Banji.

Banji girl realness.

You know, one that can take her
little baby brother to school.

One that say,
"you know, like, um, hey.

I saw a bunch of those things
walking down the street."

It's really a case of
going back into the closet.

10! 10!

10! 10!

Are there any more?

Okay, girls,
have we come to a decision?

They give the society
that they live in

Rather than have to go through
prejudices about your life

and your lifestyle,

you can
walk around confidently,

blending in
with everybody else.

You've erased all the mistakes,

all the flaws,
all the giveaways

to make your illusion perfect.

Bernie... Diane...

My mother knew
I had trophies,

but I was telling her
I won them for basketball.

And I had won trophies
for running track.

I was walking up 145th street
with my girlfriends.

I had on white hot pants,
a chiffon blouse,

a pony tail.

And my father was waiting
for the light in his car.

And he saw me.
He recognized me.

And he went straight to my house
before I could get there

and told my mother,

"your son is a woman."

She didn't press it then.

But, like,
maybe a few months later

when she noticed
that I had breasts,

everything started
coming together.

She really was devastated.

"How could you have breasts
bigger than mine?

"You're growing nails.

"You're becoming a woman
right before my very eyes.

"I can't hold my head up.

And she still loved me,

but the nagging and the...

oh, my God,
about this women's clothes.

And when I had women's clothes
stashed in my closet

and she found them,
she would destroy them.

She burnt up a mink coat.

I was, oh... Devastated.

She smelled the perfume
in it that I liked to wear...

which was jungle gardenia
at the time...

and she said, "this ain't no girl's coat.
This is your coat."

Took it downstairs
in the backyard of the building

and burned it.

And I stood there and cried
like a baby.

As long I have the mustache
and all that,

it's cute for me.

She don't want me being
in no girls' clothes.

She can't take it.

When they're undetectable...

when they can walk
out of that ballroom

into the sunlight
and onto the subway

and get home and still have
all their clothes

and no blood running
off their bodies...

those are
the femme realness queens.

And usually it's a category
for young queens.

Some of them say
that we're sick,

we're crazy.

And some of them think

that we are the most gorgeous,
special things on earth.

I would like to be
a spoiled, rich white girl.

They get what they want,

whenever they want it.

And they don't have to really
struggle with finances

and nice things
and nice clothes.

And they don't have to
have that as a problem.

I don't feel that there's
anything mannish about me,

except maybe what I might have
between me down there,

Which is
my little personal thing, so...

I guess that's why
I want my sex change...

to make myself complete.

I was about 13, 14 years old,

and I used to do it
behind my family's back...

till finally
they caught on with it.

And I didn't want to
embarrass them,

so that's when I moved away.

I moved to New York,
and I continued doing it.

When someone has rejection

from their mother and father,
their family,

they... when they get out
in the world, they search.

They search for someone
to fill that void.

I know this for experience,

because I've had kids come to me
and latch hold to me

like I'm their mother
or like I'm their father.

'Cause they can talk to me,
and I'm gay, and they're gay.

And that's where
a lot of that "ballness"

and... and the mother
business comes in.

Because their real parents
give them such a hard way to go,

they look up to me
to fill that void.

How old are you?

I'm 15.

What time is it?

Right here, homeboy.
Look at the time over there.

2:26. And y'all...
how old are you?

Me? I'm 13.

13?! And you're
out here at 2:26?

Yeah.
Where you live?

Me, I live in Harlem.

And why you down here?
Where's your mother?

Hanging out.
I don't have a mother.

Everybody has a mother,
or we wouldn't be here.

Where's your mother?
She's gone.

Where's your father?
He's gone, too.

So who you live with?

With a friend.

And you too?

I live with my mother
in the Bronx.

And y'all just hanging
out like this at...

Just hanging out.
Right there inside.

they come from such
sad backgrounds, you know -

broken homes or no home at all.

And then the few
that do have family,

when the family finds
that they're gay,

they "X" them completely.

A house?

Let's see if we can
put it down sharply.

They're families.
You can say that.

For a lot of children
who don't have families.

But this is a new meaning
of "family."

The hippies had families,

and no one thought
nothing about it.

It wasn't a question of
a man and a woman and children,

which we grew up knowing
as a family.

It's a question of a group of
human beings in a mutual bond.

You know what a house is?

I'll tell you what a house is.

A house is a gay street gang.

Now, where street gangs
get their rewards

from street fights,

a gay house street-fights
at a ball.

And you street-fight at a ball
by walking in the categories.

The houses started
because you wanted a name.

The people that the houses
are named after

were ball walkers
who became known for winning.

Work... Paris... Dupree.

After the first
few houses were started

and named after people
who had won trophies,

they also would create houses.

Like, a new group of kids
would just create a house,

then they'd work at building
its name up, which worked...

the house of Xtravaganza,
the house of Saint Laurent.

Overness.

Pendavis.

Adonis.

Lamay.

Pendavis.

Saint Laurent, of course.

Dupree.

They saw me,
and they all liked me...

all the rest
of the Xtravaganzas...

and they decided, "well, if you
want to become an Xtravaganza",

"you have to walk
a ball for us.

"And if you snatch a trophy,

then you can become
the Xtravaganza."

That's how it's supposed to
work with any... everyone.

But, uh...

Like, that wasn't with me.

I just became an Xtravaganza.

He's the one who started
the house.

He was the first gay man
I ever met.

The first time he took me
to the village...

which was my birthday...

I had just turned 15 years old.

And he threw a party
for me out there.

He bought me a cake.

I met a lot of drag queens,
transvestites,

that I didn't believe were
because they were so beautiful.

And that kind of
sunk into my head.

And I guess that's why

it kind of made me
want to even do it more.

They treat each other
like sisters, mm-hmm.

Sisters...
Or brothers...

Or mothers or...

You know, like, I say,
"oh, that's my sister,"

because she's gay, too,
and I'm gay,

and she's a drag queen
or whatever.

My mother
is Angie Xtravaganza,

and my father
is David Xtravaganza.

The house of Xtravaganza
has done a lot.

It's made me feel like
I have a family.

We're always together.
We're always...

if we're not together,
we always speak on the phone.

My name is Angie Xtravaganza,

and I am the mother
of the house of Xtravaganza.

When there's a ball,

I'm always doing something
for everybody in my house.

I do that one's hair,
the other one's makeup.

Their accessories.
I always offer advice.

You know, I mean,
as far as what I know

and what I've been through
in gay life.

You know, I ran away
from my house when I was 14,

and I've learned all sorts
of things... good and bad.

And how to survive in gay world,
you know, it's kind of hard.

Xtravaganza power!

I bought her her tits.

I paid for them.

Our mother even nurses us!

She's a good woman.

From the house
of xtravaganza,

for "mother of the year,"

keeping her children intact,

can we have Angie xtravaganza?

Work for us, girl.

Work that runway.

This is from
Andre Christian, girl.

My birthday will come,

and I always get
a birthday gift from Angie.

Won't get one
from my real mother.

Like when I got thrown out
of my house,

Angie let me stay with her
until I got myself together,

and I got working.

She always fed me.

She can be a pain in the ass
at times,

but I wouldn't trade her in
for any other mother.

Ninja.

You know, you have to
have something to offer

in order to lead.

because she's usually
the best one out of the group.

I'm Willi Ninja, the mother
of the House of Ninja.

Give him what he wants!

I am the mother
of the house of Ninja

because they say
I'm the best voguer out.

To be the mother of the house,

you have to have
the most power.

Take a real family...

it's the mother
that's the hardest worker,

and the mother
gets the most respect.

As far as my naming my house
"the house of Ninja"...

Ninjas hit hard,
they hit fast...

And that's what we are.
We come out to assassinate.

The house of Labeija
is the legendary house

above all of them.

I have the most members,
I'm the most popular.

New York City is wrapped up
in being Labeija.

So... It speaks for itself.

And I am the fiercest mother
out of all of them.

Labeija?

I wouldn't be caught dead
in that house.

I'm sorry.
I don't see that house.

Only reason I see my house...
pendavis...

is because Kim and avis.

'Cause both of them walked.

And at the last ball,
avis showed her goddamn ass off!

They call them competitions.

But believe me, they're wars.

And they often
do lead to fights.

The emotions be very high.

They're very intense,
very intense affairs.

But I guess
that's what makes them fun.

Like a good movie...
if there's no emotion...

You don't enjoy it.

I don't talk too much
about the ball kids

because I want them to
talk about me.

Because I haven't walked yet.

And it's like,
well, William says,

"I want you to walk in my ball.
I want you to walk in my ball."

And I keep telling William,
I say, "I'll walk when I walk."

"I'll walk when I want,
not when you want.

I'll walk when I want."

And so far, I don't know
when I'm gonna walk.

I'm thinking somewhat around
the time of the legends ball.

But don't quote me on that.

I mean, it really
causes hate, actually,

between two individuals.

It's like a war on the floor.

Like world war III.

But the only thing about it...
they're gay.

Now... cut the music...
now, I said...

I said, "men's garments"!

He looked like
he had on a man's fox coat.

Tell this child,
where are the men's garments?

I paid for it,
mother!

A man bought it!

It buttons on the right side!

The judges...

it buttons on the right side!

Someone came up
and told the emcee...

Are you a judge?!

That it was a woman's coat.

I thought it was kind of silly

to nitpick.

Ooh, that's shady!

They're throwing shade at him.
I can't believe it.

Wait a minute.
Wait a minute.

Wait a minute.
Wait a minute, now.

Let's not get loud.

Now, David.
David. David.

That's the one thing that
I find faulty with the balls.

After they've laid down
these little categories,

then they try to
become a stickler

for exact interpretation...

merely a point to discredit
the contestant.

Like in an Olympics
where the Russian judge

brought to the fact
that the American coach

had stepped onto the floor,

and that was a disqualification
for the contestant...

just as picky as a ball.

So those little flaws
like that...

that's because
that's a part of shade.

That's the idea...
knock them out if you can.

Get them any way you...
hit them below the belt.

It was typed out!
The second...

where is it?
Where is it?

Where is it?
Where is it?

Stop! No ball.

Shade comes from reading.

Reading came first.

Reading is the real
art form of insult.

Now, you want to
talk about reading?

Let's talk about reading.

What is wrong with you, Pedro?

Are you going through it?

You're going through
some kind of

psychological change
in your life?

She went back to be a man.

Oh, you went back
to being a man.

Touch this skin, darling.

Touch this skin, honey.

Touch all of this skin.

Okay?

You just can't take it.

You're just
an overgrown orangutan.

You get in a smart crack,

and everyone laughs
and kee-kees

because you found a flaw
and exaggerated it...

then you've got
a good read going.

I am a person just like you.

You cut me,
I bleed the same way you do.

I bleed the same color.

If it's happening between

the gay world
and the straight world,

It's more of an insult,
a vicious slur-fight.

See, see? There go my
sister right there.

She don't even want to even
admit that she my sister.

She a bulldagger.

But it's how they develop
a sense of how to read.

That's my husband right there.

And that's my girlfriend
right there.

They may call you a faggot
or a drag queen.

You find something
to call them.

But then when you are
all of the same thing,

then you have to go
to the fine point.

In other words, if I'm a black
queen and you're a black queen,

we can't call each other black queens
'cause we're both black queens.

That's not a read.
That's just a fact.

So then we talk about
your ridiculous shape.

Your fa... saggy face.

Your tacky clothes.

Let me see what you are...
spreading lies!

Let's see. Oh!
No paint!

Yes, it's paint!
It's paint!

No mother paint, girl!

What? She wears more
makeup than my mother did!

Then reading
became a developed form

where it became shade.

Shade is
"I don't tell you you're ugly,

but I don't have to tell you
because you know you're ugly."

And that's shade.

Pump...

Dip...

Spin...

Pump...

Dip...

Voguing is
the same thing as, like,

taking two knives
and cutting each other up,

but through a dance form.

Pump... Dip... Spin... Vogue.

Dip.

Go... Turn... It... Out.

Voguing came from shade

because it was a dance
that two people did

because they didn't
like each other.

Instead of fighting,

you would dance it out
on the dance floor.

And whoever
did the better moves

was throwing the best shade,
basically.

No touching.

Neither one of you.

If you touch, I'm chopping you.
I'm telling you right now.

You could take the
pantomime form of the vogue...

this is what, generally,
sometimes I do

is I make my hand
into a form like a compact

or a makeup kit.

And I'm, like,
beating my face with blush,

shadows, or whatever,
to the music.

Then, usually, I'll turn
the compact around

to face that person...

meaning, like, almost like
my hand is a mirror...

for them to get a look.

Then I'll start doing
their face,

because what they have
on their face right now

needs a dramatic makeup job.

So voguing's like a safe form
of throwing shade.

Paris... Dupree.

Work.
Paris... Dupree.

Work. Whoo!

All right, miss...

Don't knock Paris.

Come on, baby, take your time.

Bring it to the judges.

Judges, get into the form
and the style.

Work.
Let's hear it for her.

The name was taken
from the magazine "vogue,"

because some of the movements
of the dance

are also the same as
the poses inside the magazine.

Work, damn it!

The name is a statement
in itself.

I mean, you really
wouldn't go to a ball

to do the "mademoiselle."

No way.

Now I want all y'all
up on the floor!

New York and Jersey!

Wake up!
Come on!

Whoo!

Brother.
This is Saint Laurent.

Adonis.

Overness.

Bobby lamay.

Whoo, I wish I knew
how to do that.

Mm-mm-mmm.

Ouch!
Work! Work!

Work! Work! Work!

the dance takes
from the hieroglyphics

of ancient Egypt.

It also takes from some
forms of gymnastics.

They both strive for
perfect lines in the body,

awkward positions, but it
goes one step further.

It's starting to make
a name for itself,

but I want it
to be known worldwide,

and I want to be on top
of it when it hits.

I want to take voguing not
to just Paris is burning,

but I want to take it
to the real Paris

and make the real Paris burn.

That's what I want to do,

and not just there,
but to other countries as well.

My house name is Ninja,

and I would really like to take
my whole house

and go to Japan...

And really let loose and do it
and have them accept it there.

I want to be a big star.

Uh, known, generally,
every corner of the world.

You know, maybe
as a choreographer,

a famous dancer,

a singer, or all of them.

What the balls
has to do with that,

as far as the dance field,

is maybe perfecting my craft
a little better,

to learn new things,

new ideas,

and bring them
to the real world.

It's been really unbelievable,
my life.

If I was to die today
or tomorrow,

I could not say I've not had
an exciting life.

I have had a fabu...
and I'm not rich, mind you.

Just imagine
if I had the dollars.

Ooh, it'd be too much
for the world.

If I had the riches
and I had the fame, trust me,

all of y'all in here
would be rich...

'Cause I'm very generous.

You know, I can't...

I wouldn't enjoy
having a whole lot of money,

like being a millionaire
and hoarding it, you know?

I'd share it
with all my loved ones.

You know, I'd want them
to have it, too.

We'd all have to go.

I'd want to charter a plane,
and we all fly to Paris.

O-p-u-l-e-n-c-e...

opulence.

You own everything.

Everything is yours.

This is white America.

Any other nationality

that is not of the white set

knows this and accepts this
till the day they die.

That is everybody's dream
and ambition as a minority...

to live and look
as well as a white person.

It is pictured as being
in America.

Every media you have,

from TV to magazines
to movies to films...

I mean, the biggest thing that
minority watches is what?

"Dynasty" and "the Colbys."

Um, "all my children,"
the soap operas.

Everybody have
a million-dollar bracket.

When they showing you
a commercial from honey grahams

to crest or lestoil
or pine-sol,

everybody's in their own home.

The little kids
for fisher-price toys,

they're not
in no concrete playground.

They're riding around the lawn.

The pool is in the back.

This is white America.

And when it comes
to the minorities,

especially black...

We, as a people
for the past 400 years,

is the greatest example
of behavior modification

in the history of civilization.

We have had everything
taken away from us,

and yet we have
all learned how to survive.

That is why,
in the ballroom circuit,

it is so obvious

that if you have captured the
great white way of living...

Or looking...

Or dressing or speaking...

You is a marvel.

I think if I could just be
on TV or film or anything,

I'd do that
instead of the money.

Of course, I do want the money

because I want the luxury
that goes with it.

But...

I want to be wealthy.

If not wealthy,
content, comfortable...

You know?

I want to be somebody.

I mean, I am somebody.

I just want to be
a rich somebody.

You ain't gonna tell me,
you see her in the supermarket,

and you're gonna say,
"that's a hag."

Women don't go out of their way
because they are women.

I went out my way
because I wasn't,

and I felt that I wanted to be
the best I can be.

The Virginia slims girl
is here.

This was not a game
for me or fun.

This is something
that I want to live.

She's here in person.

Hopefully, God willing,

by 1988, I fully hope to
become a full-fledged woman

of the United States.

You look at all these models
on the wall.

Every one of them are gorgeous.

Every one of them
are beautiful.

But every one of them
have their own look.

This is my idol...
Paulina.

Someday I hope to be
up there with her.

If that could be me,

I think I would be the happiest
person in the world,

just knowing that
I can compare to Paulina,

to stand next to her
and to take pictures with her.

And I look at her here,
and I'd say she's seductive,

and she's alluring.

I look at her there, and I say
she's sexy and provocative.

I look at her here,

and I think that she's childish
and little-girl type.

You know, and I look at her
here, and it's the same.

And I look at her here,
and I think of wicked beauty.

You know?
That's how I see her.

I-I admire her...

you know, the red-hot fire
of hair and...

The whole bit.

If you're not
really trying hard enough,

then I become hard.

Do not believe just because
I'm a guy that I cannot do it.

In order to be a teacher
and show girls how to do it,

I have to know how to do it.

I've taught for various shows,

like for F.I.T.,
I've taught models.

Girls that are
from various agencies...

they've come to me
by word of mouth.

New York City women are a little
bit harder than most women.

Basically, I'm trying to bring
their femininity back

and bring some grace and poise.

You know, whether
they become models or not,

it's nice to know because
it's more attractive to men.

The walk that she's doing...

it's basically to get more
movement in your hips naturally.

Don't exaggerate.

Most likely,
she'll get what she wants.

You know, especially
if she's in a man's world,

she can still have
her equal rights,

but be able to manipulate a man
by using her feminine wiles.

Are they soft?

Looking from head to toe,
would you know?

- Is this realness or not?
- Let it be mother hot.

Miss octavia, you don't feel
this realness?

Where are you at, sister?
Oops, you're right there.

Labeija...

Candy Labeija.

Realness in the daytime,
darling.

She goes to school as a woman.

Get into it.

Get into both of them
and see which one is realer.

Feel the flesh
or whatever it may be.

Is it soft or not?

It's soft.

Come, come, come.

Score miss octavia first.

Step forward
to accept your scores.

10, 10, 10, 10, 10.

Score Tennille.

9, 10, 10.

grand prize, octavia.

First place, Tennille.

There's people
who sit home all day.

They have potential, okay?

I mean, they go to the balls, and they
prove that they have potentials on

actually selling
a garment, okay?

But they, like, "being
that I have this potential",

"the ballroom tells me, okay,

the ballroom tells me
that I'm somebody."

But when the ballroom is over,
when you come home,

you have to convince yourself
that you are somebody,

and that's where they get lost.

It's also in a magazine.

What's the name
of the magazine?

when you could spend
a great deal of time

making outfits
and preparing for something.

Now they come very quickly,

and the moods change
very quickly.

I come from the old school
of big costumes...

feathers and beads...

and they don't have that
anymore.

Now it's all about designers,

and it's not
about what you create,

it's about
what you can acquire.

What do you think?

Isn't that beautiful?

$559... how's that
for a simple dress?

If you have on a label,
it means that you've, uh,

you've got wealth,
when it doesn't really,

'cause any shoplifter
can get a label.

You can't come down the runway

in something
for $14.99 or $49.99

and say, "well, I'm lovely,"

and expect to win.

Okay, to describe...
explain "mopping."

Mopping, you go into a store,

and...

Just look for... look for
whatever you want to see,

look for whatever.

Mopping is stealing.

General stealing.

However it's done,
it's stealing.

If you're working every day,

you're struggling
to buy this outfit.

When you walk, you're like,
"this is me."

And your facial expressions

as well as your means
of projection of your outfit...

it shows if you actually
stole it or you purchased it.

You can actually tell?

You can actually tell.

Faggots are a stunt
in themselves, regardless.

Make no mistake.

First, it come...
okay, when it comes to a stunt,

it goes in...
it goes in order.

It goes faggots,
then girls, then boys,

because boys are the stupidest.

They don't know how
to do a stunt right.

Now, faggots will do a stunt,

and I mean, you will never catch
up with it until years later.

And then, I mean,
you'll be like,

"oh, , this faggot
pulled this stunt on me."

We went down there.
We had fun.

We just act stupid
and came back.

But I think the best thing
we did was Roy Rogers.

That was fun.

You would have had
something to eat,

'cause how much did you pay
for that sandwich?

I don't remember...
maybe $5.

Around $5?

That... make no mistake,
we got your $5 back.

I had two
double cheeseburgers,

two fries, a coke, a sprite,
and an orange,

chicken, and chips.

Just going back and forth...
I lived on that line.

We got over... around...
around...

say, around $200 in food.

See, they put cheese
on the meat.

I hope after this,

Roy Rogers does not change
how it has its food

because if it does
by this interview,

I will be so upset.

I will be so upset.

I'll be...

I'll be hurt, I'm telling you.

I really will be,
'cause I mean it.

Where else can you go in,
get it done your way,

Carla xtravaganza said...

will you please return
her black patent-leather shoes,

size 7?

There is a reward.

She want her pumps.

She said it's not going to
work, taking her shoes.

Give them back.

Daytime, if they go out,
they're only going out...

To try to hustle up
a quarter or two...

To get their things for the ball
or go to a little job.

A lot of them
have little jobs now.

They work.
Don't think they're lazy.

In New York City,
you work, or you starve.

You work...
some kind of work...

Legal or otherwise,

but you have to work
to sustain yourself.

The legendary Tennille dupree

and the father of the house
of ebony, Max Debuciak,

presents a night
of living hell and punishment

at the imperial elks lodge,

160 west 129th street,

which is right here.

Doors open at 5:00 A.M.

Grand march is at 7:00 A.M.

the boys are usually later
because of the fact

that we're waiting for the
working girls to get there.

And what is it
those girls are doing?

Well, they're making
money for the balls,

or they're making their
costumes, their outfits,

or, you know, getting
it together like that.

What's their profession?

Usually showgirls...

usually, they're,
you know, showgirls.

Uh-huh. Anything else? You know?

Well, it depends.
It depends.

I don't know a lot
of their professions,

but usually they're
showgirls... usually.

The thing that helped me
make my most money

through the escort service
is being that I'm so little.

I'm so petite and tiny.

Um... The blond hair
and the light skin

and the green eyes
and the little features.

And the client's hands
will be bigger than my hands

while they would hold my hand
or something.

You know, they like feeling

that they're with something
perfect and little,

and not someone
that's bigger than them,

because I guess
that kind of disturbs them.

Most all the drag queens
that are involved in the balls,

they... 90% of them...
are hustlers.

I guess that's how
they make their money

to go to the balls
and get whatever they need.

I used to hustle in New York
to make my money.

I was with a guy, and he was
playing with my titties

till he touched me down there.

He felt it, and he seen it, and
he, like, totally flipped out.

He said, "you fucking faggot!
You're a freak."

"You're a victim of aids, and
you're trying to give me aids.

You're a homo.
I should kill you."

You know, stuff like that.

And, like,
I was really terrified.

So I just jumped
out the window.

I grabbed my bag
and just jumped out the window.

But see, now I don't like
to hustle anymore.

I don't, and I'm afraid
of what's going on...

the aids...
and I don't want to catch it.

Like, later on this evening,
I'm supposed to meet someone...

a friend of mine,
a very good old friend of mine.

He's a young, very good,
attractive, handsome young man.

And, um, he's taking me out
to dinner later on this evening,

or for cocktails
after midnight.

I know he'll give me
some money...

Just for me to maybe buy a pair
of shoes and a nice dress

so that the next time
he sees me...

He'll see me looking more
and more beautiful...

the way he wants to see me.

But I don't have to go
to bed with him

or anything like that.

At times,
they do expect sexual favors,

but that is between myself
and them,

so I do not wish to further
speak about that...

If they do.

But at most times,
99% of the time, they don't.

95% of the time, they don't.

But I feel like...

If you're married...
a woman in the suburbs,

a regular woman...
Is married to her husband,

and she wants him to buy her
a washer and dryer set...

In order for him to buy that,

I'm sure she'd have to go
to bed with him anyway

to give him what he wants
for her to get what she wants.

So, in the long run,
it all ends up the same way.

If money wasn't so important
in the world today...

To survive...

I guess I wouldn't want
anything but what I have now.

But since money does...

I hope that the way I look
puts money in my pocket.

You know?

I'm really working hard.

I'm gonna work even harder.

Yeah.
There we are.

That is lovely.
Still.

Great.

Couldn't be better.

There... oh, it's beautiful
like that for the light

when you kind of, you know,
do this to the light.

I want people to look at me as,
"there's the model octavia.

"There's the actress octavia.

There's miss supermodel
of the world, octavia."

Is this endless,
this catalog of poses?

I could keep going
longer than you could.

Yeah, just there.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

I don't want to end up
an old drag queen

with nothing going for me

but trying to win
grand prize at a ball.

Yeah, no, back a little bit
like you did.

Yes, that.

just coming around...
yeah.

Right.
Couldn't be better.

I don't think the world
has been fair to me...

Lovely.
Lovely.

I've been a man, and I've been
a man who emulated a woman.

I've never been a woman.

I never had that service
once a month.

I've never been pregnant.

You know, I can never say
how a woman feels.

I can only say how a man
who acts like a woman

or dresses like a woman feels.

I never wanted to have
a sex change.

That's just taking it
a little too far, you know?

Because if you decide later on
in life to change your mind,

you can't...
once it's gone, it's gone.

A lot of kids that I know, they got
the sex change because they felt,

"oh, I've been treated so bad
as a drag queen.

"If I get a"...
excuse the expression...

"I'll be treated fabulous."

But women get treated bad.

You know, they get beat,

they get robbed,
they get dogged.

So having the vagina,

that doesn't mean that you're
gonna have a fabulous life.

It might, in fact, be worse,
you know.

So I've never recommended it,

and I myself would have
never, ever got it,

and I'm so thankful
that I was that smart,

because right about now,

this next 40 or so years
that I'm gonna be here,

I'm gonna live.

And for those children
that can't take the fact

that I still look youthful,
ha! Suffer.

No bags, no lines.
Lovely.

America's nice.

You can do what you want
if you have the money.

You can be what you want,
certainly.

Look at me.

In, um, '84,

I've had a nose
reconstructed... job.

I've had my cheekbones risen.

I've had a chin implant
and breast implants.

Yes, tell them like it is.

The most important factor
in my life

that has been completed
recently

is that I've had
a transsexualism operation.

That means
I've had a sex change.

I'm no longer a man.

I am a woman.

I feel great.

I'm very happy.
She has to rub it in.

And I feel like the part
of my life that was a secret

is now closed.

I can close the closet door.

There are no more skeletons
in there.

And I'm as free as the wind

that's blowing
out on this beach.

Except that voice
is still there.

Oh!

As free as this beach.

Free gift today
at the dior counter.

Sample poison by dior, ladies.

Sample the elegance today...
poison by dior.

Can I sample it?

Yes.
Dior's poison.

Very nice.

Delicious, yes?

Folks, please keep moving.

We're trying to keep
the aisles clear.

Please keep moving.

...The Ford search
for the supermodel of the year,

the seventh search
of this type.

Mrs. Ford is here
with two of her top models,

and we're interviewing
candidates

who hope to become
the supermodel of the year.

Clients like models
who will be helpful,

who never say the clothes
are terrible even if they are,

because after all,
not everything is perfect.

They... they have to make
the least perfect of clothes

look like a dior.

And so they can't just say,

"that's the worst thing
I've ever seen."

You know, they
have to make it look good.

They have to be very,
very cooperative.

And they have to be cheerful.

Nobody likes to go in and hear
your troubles, you know?

When people ask you
how you feel,

don't tell them if you're sick
'cause they don't really care.

Then you drop it off.

3, 2, 1.

But while the faces
of the '80s stood on line,

the feet of the '80s
did some waiting...

half an hour
and round the block,

all the way to third Avenue.

One of these young ladies

could become the supermodel
of the world.

Exciting?

Try again.

How does this type of thing
square with women's lib?

What about men?
Do they take you seriously?

Or when they hear
you're a model,

how does their reaction
change to you?

What about,
like I asked before,

does this square
with the women's lib movement?

Can I have a few
of you over here?

Okay, can I have
a few more women?

Fine. Nice to meet you, too.
I'm shari.

Shari, my name's Janet.

Hi, Janet. So you
want to be a model?

Yes. So you need an application.

Actually, I was in this contest.
That's how I started.

That's me.
I can't believe that.

Yeah, that's 5 years ago.
You still look great.

Thanks.
Thanks a lot.

We look at 75,000 pictures.

Well, you know,
that's the average amount

that we look at each contest.

What have girls become? Are
they... are they the same?

How are they different?

Girls are not different from
yesterday or the day before.

Everybody who's young
has a hope and a dream...

And I don't think that
it's ever been any different

in the history of the world.

I believe that
there's a big future out there

with a lot
of beautiful things...

A lot of handsome men...

A lot of luxury.

I want a car.

I want to be with a man I love.

I want a nice home
away from New York,

up the Peekskills
or maybe in Florida...

somewhere far
where no one knows me.

I want my sex change.

I want to live
a normal, happy life,

whether it's being married
and adopting children,

whether it's being famous
and rich.

I want to get married
in church in white.

Sometimes I sit,
and I look at a magazine.

I try to imagine myself
in the front cover

or even inside.

I want to be a complete woman,

and I want to be a professional
model behind cameras

in the high-fashion world.

I want so much more.
I want...

I want my name
to be a household product.

I want everybody to look at me
and say, "there goes octavia."

I want this.
This is what I want.

And I'm gonna go for it.

Oh, me!

Amy xtravaganza!

Amy xtravaganza!

Swinging...

Vogue.

Vogue.
Vogue.

Vogue.
Vogue.

Amy.

Previously,
I, uh, introduced rap music

along with dancing...

To Japanese people,
and they really loved it.

This, ladies
and gentlemen, is voguing,

a form of dance
that has its roots in Harlem...

a takeoff on runway modeling,

which they had plenty of
last night as well.

Voguing is an attitude,
a style.

It's... It's...

A kind of an institutionalized
showing off.

But not without
its entertainment value.

Something very spectacular,
very important... Art form.

Very important.

It's just so theatrical,
and the energy...

oh, it's just terrific.

In addition to perhaps
putting voguing in vogue,

this love ball sponsored by the
design industries foundation for aids

raised more than $350,000
for research

and housing for the homeless
who have aids.

And I have never seen anything
quite like it.

I'm Connie Collins,
news 4, Manhattan.

Two years ago, I was
working in a health-food store,

still teaching and trying to
perform on my own.

But now, my foot is, like,
in every little doorstep

that you can think of.

Um...

I'm doing a lot of runway work,

um, dancing... performing
for Malcolm Mclaren,

various other people,
doing choreography,

helping people
put their shows together.

So it's going very good.

This earring
that I have here, is...

I bought this in Japan.

As you can see,
it says "house couture."

I can't read the rest of it.
It has a scissor

and it has "Jr. Gaultier, '89"
on there, of course.

It's a Gaultier label emblem.

I bought it, mind you.
I have the receipt still...

where, I don't know,
but I bought it.

The balls have kind of
gotten toned down

compared to what it used to be.

Now when I tell people
what it is,

and they go, and it's not
what they expect, you know,

it's like they feel, like, a
little bit of a letdown, you know?

And they say, "it was long, it
was dragged out, it was boring."

Okay, the balls are always long
and dragged out,

I really do kind of miss
the street element.

I mean, but everything changes,

and everything's
been changing drastically.

You know, um, New York's
not even the same anymore.

I always said to her, "Venus,
you take too many chances."

"You're too wild with people
in the streets.

But that was Venus.
She always took a chance.

She always went
into strangers' cars.

She always did what she wanted
to get what she wanted.

I had a booking
for a Christmas show at Sally's,

and the D.T.S came to me
with a picture of her murdered,

and they were
about to cremate her

'cause nobody had came
to verify the body,

and I was the one that
had to give all this information

down to her family.

Actually, they found her dead
after 4 days,

strangled under a bed in a
sleazy hotel in New York City.

I'm hungry.

and, you know, she was like my right
hand, as far as I'm concerned.

I miss her. Every time
I go anywhere, I miss her.

That was my main...

the main daughter of my house,
in other words.

But that's part of life,

as far as being a transsexual
in New York City and surviving.

I always had hopes
of being a big star.

And then I looked...

as you get older,
you aim a little lower.

And I just say, "well, yeah, you
still might make an impression."

Everybody wants to leave
something behind them...

some impression,
some mark upon the world.

Then you think...

You've left a mark
on the world...

If you just get through it...

And a few people
remember your name.

Then you left a mark.

You don't have to bend
the whole world.

I think it's better
to just enjoy it.

Pay your dues...

And enjoy it.

If you shoot an arrow
and it goes real high,

hooray for you.

bring the cameras closer,
Mr. Demille.

I'm ready for my closeup.
And so...

Okay, winter sportswear...

Preferably fur,
but if not, you know,

you can... natural fibers.

If... if you choose a
polyester, God help you.

You know how the children are.

okay, you add "U-G" at the end
of your word, right?

But you have to take off
the first letter

or the first letters
until you get into a vowel.

I'm not looking for anything.
I think all men are dogs.

I honestly do.

You know, every man starts
barking sooner or later.

I'm a quiet person.

And if you believe that...

you know, I own that island
right over there, too.

They want to be
with their kind.

Right.
They want to be gay.

'Cause partly, like,
just like...

all right, just like, again,
just like a community.

In a religious community,

they want to pray
together a lot, right?

Well, this gay community
might want to...

or... or they, like,
want to be together.

All right! All right!

Work at it! Work!

So, this is New York City.

And this is
what the gay life is about.

Right?